1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control technique in displaying desired characters and a background on a monitor of a game system to produce game images.
2. Related Art
There are known video game systems for performing virtual games such as a soccer game. In those video game systems, image data for expressing characters and backgrounds of games are prepared in advance and written in given memory regions of a storage of each game system. Under a game, the attitudes and positions of each character and regions to be displayed as a background are repeatedly computed at intervals, and, in response to the computed results for each interval, image data are selectively read out from the storage to form a one-frame game image to be depicted.
However, a game system has a limitation on the capacity of a storage of a game system, and in connection with this, there is another limitation on a size of a region allocated for storing the image data. Moreover, in competitive games such as a soccer game, it is required to display a plurality of characters in one-frame image at a time in most occasions. Additionally, to express motions of each character requires that each character has to be displayed in a different pose every frame. If different sets of image data correspondingly to different poses of the characters are prepared, the total amount of data that must be prepared beforehand becomes enormous. Under such circumstances, it may become impossible to perform the game in an entry-level game system, such as a portable game device, whose storage capacity is relatively smaller. If the characters are displayed at a constant pose with no motional expressions, it will be possible to reduce an amount of data, however, this way of display control produces only poor changes of game images, severely deteriorating attraction of games.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling a display of a game image, in which characters can be displayed in different poses by making full use of a storage region with limited capacity, a game system realizing the display control method, and a computer-readable recording medium storing software capable of realizing the display control method.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. In the following descriptions, for the sake of making it easier to understand the present invention, reference numerals adopted from the accompanying drawings are added to the major constituents with parentheses, but such constituents of the present invention are not necessarily limited to the exemplified ones.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a display of a game image (20), comprising the steps of: preparing both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing a character to be displayed in the game image and further image data for representing a different picture in connection with at least part of the blocks; and changing a pose of the character displayed on the game image by switching a combination of the prepared image data.
Therefore, only switching image data corresponding to a part of a plurality of blocks composing one character into other image data enables the character to be displayed in another pose in a game image. Accordingly, in comparison with cases in which image data different for each pose of a character are prepared, an amount of image data necessary for displaying the character can be reduced.
In the above method, color of at least part of the character displayed in the game image based on the combination of the same image data may be changed to thereby represent a plurality of types of characters.
Thus, in comparison with cases in which image data are separately prepared for each character to which a different display color is assigned, amounts, of image data handled thorough display control can be lowered.
The color assigned to one of the blocks, which is mapped uppermost in the game image among the blocks constituting the character, may be kept unchanged regardless of changing of the color with respect to the remaining blocks.
When displaying characters such as human beings, animals, and robots in a game image, there are some cases where, of the blocks composing each of the characters, the uppermost mapped block is used for representing the head and the remaining blocks are used for representing portions including the body, hands, and feet. In such cases, simply switching the color of the blocks except the head block permits a game operator who plays a game to recognize this character as a different one. This color-switching processing can be easily done in this invention, and an amount of data handled in such processing can be reduced to relieve the burden of data processing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game system comprising: an image data storing device (4) for storing both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing a character to be displayed in a game image (20) and further image data for changing a picture of at least one of the blocks; a character information producing device (1) for producing character information associated with a display pose of the character and a display position of the character in accordance with a progress of a game; a combination specifying device (1) for specifying image data from both said image data corresponding to the blocks and said further image data to display the character in the display pose corresponding to the character information and further specifying a mutual positional relationship between the blocks corresponding to the specified image data; and a display position determining device (1) for determining display positions in the game image with respect to the blocks corresponding to the image data specified by the combination specified device based on both the character information and the mutual positional relationship between the blocks specified by the combination specifying device.
Therefore, like the above method, since the image data stored in the image data storing device is configured such that only switching part of the image data composing one character into other image data enables the character to be displayed in another pose, a large number of poses of the character can be represented with fewer amounts of image data.
The above game system may further comprise a display performing device (1,5) for reading the image data specified by the combination specifying device (1) from the image data storing device (4) and for displaying images of the blocks (40. . . 40) corresponding to the read image data at the display positions in the game image (20) determined by the display position determining device.
In this case, image data specified depending on the character information are read from the image data storing device, and then displayed at the positions determined by the display position determining device.
The game system may further comprise a combination storing device (4) for storing both a plurality of display poses with respect to the character and combinations of image data necessary for displaying the character in said plurality of display poses so as to be associated with each other, and the combination specifying device (1) may specify the image data based on information stored in the combination storing device.
Therefore, based on the information stored in the combination storing device, the image data necessary for configuring the character to be displayed in a game image are easily specified.
The combination storing device (4) may store both said plurality of display poses and data designating mutual positional relationships of blocks (40 . . . 40) necessary for displaying the character at the plurality of display poses so as to be associated with each other, and the display position determining device (1) may determine the display positions of the blocks based on both the character information and the data designating the positional relationships, which are stored in the combination storing device (4).
In this case, it is possible to easily specify the display positions of the blocks composing the character designated by the character information.
The character information produced by the character information producing device (1) may include information for determining that the character belongs to which one of at least two types of attributions, and said game system may further comprise a color switching device for switching color of at least part of the character displayed in the game image based on a combination of the same image data in accordance with one of the attributions specified by the character information.
In the above configuration, the color of the character is in part exchanged in accordance with the attributions specified by the character information. Two or more types of characters, for example, like friend and opponent players, which should be distinguished from each other in a game image can be displayed using the same image data. Thus, an amount of the image data can be reduced noticeably, in comparison with cases where image data of characters are prepared for each attribute of the characters.
The color switching device may switch the color assigned only to the blocks except one of the blocks mapped uppermost in the game image among the blocks constituting the character.
In this case, simply switching the color of portions except the head of the character allows the character to be represented in a different attribution. Therefore, an amount of the data handled with the color switch can be lowered to relieve the burden on data calculation in the game system.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium (10) comprising: an image data storing region (10a) into which both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing a character to be displayed in a game image (20) and further image data for changing a picture of at least one of the blocks are stored respectively; and a program storing region (10a) into which a program to be executed by a computer of a game system is stored, wherein the program is prepared to allow the computer to perform the steps of producing character information associated with a display pose and a display position of the character in accordance with a progress of a game, specifying image data from both said image data corresponding to the blocks and said further image data to display the character in the display pose corresponding to the character information and further specifying a mutual positional relationship of the blocks corresponding to the specified image data, and determining display positions in the game image with respect to the blocks corresponding to the specified image data based on both the character information and the specified mutual positional relationship of the blocks.
Utilizing this configuration, the computer is able to read and execute the program stored in the program storing region with referring to the image data stored in the image data storing region. This enables the game system to have the same or equivalent advantages as or to those described with respect to the above game system.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a display of a game image (20) in which at least two types of characters (22a, 22b) defined as mutual opponents in a game are displayed in the game image so as to be mutually distinguishable in accordance with the types thereof, and poses of the characters are changed in accordance with a progress of the game, the method comprising the steps of: preparing both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing one type of character (22a) among said at least two types of characters and further image data for changing a picture of at least one of the blocks; changing a pose of the one type of character displayed in the game image by switching a combination of the prepared image data; and representing other types of characters (22b) by changing at least part of color assigned to the one type of character composed by combining the image data.
Furthermore, there is provided a game system in which at least two types of characters (22a, 22b) defined as mutual opponents in a game are displayed in a game image (20) so as to be mutually distinguishable in accordance with the types thereof, and poses of the characters are changed in accordance with a progress of the game, the game system comprising: an image data storing device (4) for storing both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing one type of character (22a) among the at least two types of characters and further image data for changing a picture of at least part of the blocks; a character information producing device (1) for producing character information associated with types, display poses, and display positions of all characters to be displayed in the game image according to the progress of the game; a combination specifying device (1) for specifying image data from both said image data corresponding to the blocks and said further image data to display the characters in the display poses corresponding to the character information and further specifying mutual positional relationships of the blocks corresponding to the specified image data; a display position determining device (1) for determining display positions in the game image with respect to the blocks corresponding to the specified image data based on both the character information and the specified mutual positional relationships of the blocks; and a color switching device (1) for switching color designation with respect to at least part of the blocks to be displayed in the game image in accordance with the types of the characters specified by the character information.
In the above method and game system, it is possible that a plurality of blocks combined for representing one type of character are in part replaced with other blocks. Such simple replacement allows the one type of character to alter in poses. Moreover, only switching part of the color of the one type of character can display other types of characters, and their display poses can be changed, like the one type of character. Thus, for each type of characters, the image data necessary for displaying the characters can greatly be reduced in amounts, in comparison with cases in which the image data are prepared separately for every pose.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium (10) for allowing a computer of a game system to perform processing by which at least two types of characters (22a, 22b) defined as mutual opponents in a game are displayed in a game image (20) so as to be mutually distinguishable in accordance with the types thereof and poses of the characters are changed in according with a progress of the game, the recording medium comprising: an image data storing region (10a) into which both image data corresponding to each of a plurality of blocks (40 . . . 40) obtained by dividing one type of character (22a) among the at least two types of characters and further image data for changing a picture of at least part of the blocks are stored respectively; and a program storing region (10a) into which a program to be executed by the computer is stored, wherein the program is prepared to allow the computer to perform the steps of producing character information associated with types, display poses, and display positions of all characters to be displayed in the game image according to the progress of the game, specifying image data from both said image data corresponding to the blocks and said further image data to display the characters in the display poses corresponding to the character information and further specifying mutual positional relationships of the blocks corresponding to the specified image data, determining display positions in the game image with respect to the blocks corresponding to the specified image data based on both the character information and the specified mutual positional relationships of the blocks, and switching color designation with respect to at least part of the blocks to be displayed in the game image in accordance with the types of the characters specified by the character information.
Utilizing this configuration, the computer is able to read and execute the program stored in the program storing region with referring the image data stored in the image data storing region. This can realize the above display control described in connection with the above method and the game system.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a display of a game image (20), by which image data stored in a first image data storing device (30) of a game system are read in accordance with a progress of a game to thereby display a predetermined display range (51) of a background image (50) in the game image, the method comprising the steps of: storing further image data necessary for displaying the entire background image into a second image data storing device (10a) of the game system; dividing the further image data into a first data group corresponding to a central area (50C) of the background image and a plurality of second data groups each corresponding to each of separate peripheral areas (50R, 50L) of the background image, both the central area and the peripheral areas composing the entire background image; and fixedly storing image data of the first data group into the first image data storing device (30) and selectively storing image data of the plurality of second data groups into a specified area (33) of the first image data storing device when the background image is requested to be displayed.
This embodiment focuses on the fact that, when only part of a background image are displayed in the game image and its display range is shifted from the center of the background image toward one side of the peripheral areas in a certain direction, the image data corresponding to an opposite side of the peripheral areas are not used to represent the game image. Considering such occasion, the invention adopts a configuration where, of the image data composing the peripheral areas, only image data that used for representing the present game image or that show a higher possibility of being used in the near future are stored in the first image data storing device, while the image data corresponding to the opposite side of the peripheral areas are not stored in the first image data storing device. This configuration makes it possible to reduce a capacity of memory areas allotted to store the background image in the first image data storing device. Thus, in exchange of the reduction, the memory areas for mapping the image data of the character can be increased.
The above display control method may further comprise the step of mutually exchanging one of the second data groups stored into the first image data storing device (30) based on a positional relationship between a reference position placed in the background image (50) and the display range (51) to be displayed in the game image as the background image.
In this configuration, it is possible to make it accurate the correspondence between changes in the display range and exchanges of image data of the second data group toward the first image data storing device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game system in which image data stored in a first image data storing device (30) are read in accordance with a progress of a game to thereby display a predetermined display range (51) of a background image (50) in a game image (20), the game system comprising: a second image data storing device (10a) for storing further image data necessary for displaying the entire background image; and a data storage controlling device (1) for dividing the further image data into a first data group corresponding to a central area (50C) of the background image and a plurality of second data groups each corresponding to each of separate peripheral areas (50R, 50L) of the background image, both the central area and the peripheral areas composing the entire background image, and for fixedly storing image data of the first data group into the first image data storing device and selectively storing image data of the plurality of second data groups into a specified area (33) of the first image data storing device when the background image is requested to be displayed.
In this embodiment, it is possible to reduce memory areas allotted to store the background image in the first image data storing device. Thus, in exchange of the reduction, memory areas for mapping the image data of the character can be increased.
The data storage control device (1) may be capable of mutually exchanging the second data groups stored into the first image data storing device (30) based on a positional relationship between a reference position placed in the background image and the display range of the background image in the game image.
In this embodiment, it is possible to make it accurate the correspondence between changes in the display range and exchanges of image data of the second data group toward the first image data storing members.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium (10) in which a program is stored to allow a computer of a game system to perform processing for reading image data stored in a first image data storing device (30) of the game system in accordance with a progress of a game to thereby display a predetermined display range (51) of a background image (50) in a game image (20), the program being prepared to allow the computer to perform the steps of: dividing further image data, which are stored in a second image data storing device (10a) of the game system to display the entire background image, into a first data group corresponding to a central area (50C) of the background image and a plurality of second data groups each corresponding to each of separate peripheral areas (50R, 50L) of the background image, both the central area and the peripheral areas composing the entire background image; and fixedly storing image data of the first data group into the first image data storing device and selectively storing image data of the plurality of second data groups into a specified area (33) of the first image data storing device when the background image is requested to be displayed.
In this configuration, the computer can read and execute the program stored in the recording medium, which provides both the above mentioned display control method and the above game system.
The remaining features of the invention will be clearly understood from the following description of preferred embodiments and their modifications, described together with accompanying drawings.